Photo by: Joannie M. Chen
Metropolitan Klezmer, established in 1994, brings eclectic exuberance to Yiddish musical genres from all over the map. Performing vibrant versions of lesser-known gems from wedding dance, trance, folk, swing and tango styles, as well as soundtrack material from vintage Yiddish films, they re-invent tradition with both irreverence and respect... an exhilarating journey! Full band description.
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Ismail Butera is a renowned virtuoso accordionist playing in a range of
styles including Balkan, Greek, Turkish, Arabic, Albanian, Armenian, and Persian,
as well as klezmer, Israeli and Sephardic music. He has performed with the
Klezmatics, Andy Statman, Michael Alpert, Song of the Shtetl, Klezmeydlekh &
Friends, Noga Group, Chameleon, and Yale Strom's Hot P'Stromi, including
soundtracks of The Last Klezmer and A Life Apart: Hasidim in America. He has taught at
Buffalo Gap Balkan Folk Arts Camp, plays traditional Greek instruments with
Smyrneiki Kompania, and plays and sings Balkan, Mediterranean and Near Eastern
music with his own music and dance project, Sharqiya.
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Trombonist Rick Faulkner has strong roots in jazz and Afro-Caribbean music,
playing everything from salsa to Dixieland to classical and avante-garde. A
veteran of famed ska band the Toasters and co-founder of NY Ska Jazz Ensemble, he
has also performed with salsa bandleaders Orlando Marin, Raulin Rosendo, and
Ramon Rodriguez (Conjunto Classico); jazz legends Max Roach and Charli Persip;
Cuban guitarist/songwriter Juan Carlos Formell; Haitian stars Tabou Combo;
and Joe Gallant's jazz/rock/ avant-garde Illuminati. He plays on discs of such
diverse artists as Sloan Wainwright, Skah Shah #1 and the 1930's revivalist
Paul Lindemeyer Orchestra. His arrangements have been played by Michael Brecker
and John Scofield. His compositions appear on his solo project Waiting for
Rain as well as CDs by Latin jazz band Los Mas Valientes. A BME from Indiana
University and an MM in Jazz Performance from Manhattan School of Music, he is on
faculty at Mount Hood Jazz Festival and Hunter College.
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Trumpet/flugelhorn artist Pam Fleming, toured nationally with Natalie Merchant
in Lilith Fair, where she was also a frequent soloist with the Indigo Girls.
She appeared with Bonnie Raitt on VH1 and with Rufus Wainwright on Late Night
with David Letterman. Composer/leader with her jazz project Fearless Dreamer,
which has just released its second CD, "Climb," she also plays styles from
salsa to swing to funk, and is a graduate of the Eastman School of Music. In
addition to extensive work with reggae star Burning Spear, she has been a guest
artist with "Li'l" Jimmy Scott (Sessions at 54th St. on PBS), Cab Calloway,
Bruce Springsteen, Robert Palmer, Arrow [Hot Hot Hot], Queen Latifah, Sarah
McLachlan, & the Klezmatics. Performing and writing for both Metropolitan Klezmer
and the all-female Isle of Klezbos, she appears on all four of the klezmer
bands' CDs. |
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Multi-instrumentalist Michael Hess studied classical violin and viola at the
Manhattan School of Music, and learned kanun (Middle Eastern zither) from the
late Egyptian master Mohammed El Akkad. He is also widely known as an
accomplished player of Arabic ney flutes and frame drums, and as an eminent performer
of Sephardic music, touring throughout North America as well as Turkey and
Lithuania with Alhambra. He has recorded widely as well as performing with
Mogador Ensemble, Smyrneiki Kompania, Sharqiya, and other Middle Eastern, Eastern
European, Greek, Turkish, and Persian folkloric music, theater, and dance
troupes. |
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Bassist/tuba artist Dave Hofstra has played, toured, and recorded extensively
in jazz, rock, blues, klezmer, and new music. He has performed with artists
Bobby Previte, Lou Grassi, Bobby Radcliff, Grady Gaines, John Zorn, Wayne
Horvitz, Robin Holcomb, Debbie Davies, Elliot Sharp, Tom Cora, Guy Klucevsek, Bill
Frisell, Toshi Reagon, Luka Bloom, Marshall Crenshaw, Joel Forrester, William
Parker, and Nora York, as well as with Philip Johnston's Big Trouble, the
Microscopic Septet, and the Transparent Quartet; Rachelle Garniez's Fortunate Few
and Twilight Time; Casselberry & DuPree; The Waitresses; and the Klezmatics.
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Vocalist Deborah Karpel's eclectic background brings together musical
theater, jazz standards, cabaret, opera, and Yiddish repertoire from her grandfather.
A performer in the Obie award-winning Hot Keys at PS 122, art song recitals
at NYC's Donnell Library, improv group Shock of the Funny, the 92nd St Y Opera
Lab, Comedy Central's Strangers With Candy, Dixon Place's Opera Vindaloo (as
seen on Good Morning America and WNET's City Arts), and in the all-female Isle
of Klezbos, Ms Karpel has been chosen for classical voice studies in Graz,
Austria, Portland OR & Italy. She performs on all Metropolitan Klezmer and
Klezbos CDs. |
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Clarinet/alto saxophonist Debra Kreisberg has played swing, funk, rock, Latin
jazz, classical, r&b, and musical theater. A graduate of Eastman School of
Music with an MM in Jazz Studies from Manhattan School of Music, she has played
with funk band D'Tripp, performs, composes, arranges, and records with Latin
jazz octet Los Mas Valientes and the all-female Isle of Klezbos sextet in
addition to Metropolitan Klezmer, and has also performed with the Nelson Riddle
Orchestra, Illuminati, and the Rochester Philharmonic featuring Natalie Cole. In
addition to joining both klezmer bands in 1999, she has co-produced mixes on
MetroKlezmer & Isle of Klezbos' award-winning Mosaic Persuasion, as well as new
CDs Surprising Finds and Greetings from the Isle of Klezbos.
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Drummer Eve Sicular has performed klezmer, rock, r&b, Cajun/zydeco, samba, swing, Balkan and Middle Eastern music with such artists as David Krakauer, The Voodoobillies, The Mazeltones, Pink Noise, and Jewlia Eisenberg's Charming Hostess. She formed Metropolitan Klezmer in 1994 and produced their CDs Yiddish for Travelers (1997), Mosaic Persuasion (2001; OutMusic Award/2002, Outstanding Producer), and Surprising Finds (2003). She has also led the all-female Isle of Klezbos sextet since its founding in 1998, producing their 2003 disc Greetings from the Isle of Klezbos. She has also performed &/or recorded with Tigresa, Laura Wetzler, Terry Dame's Sax Appeal, Mediterraneo, Susan Arrow & the Quivers, The Klezmatics, as well as for film soundtracks and theater, including Molly Picon is Alive & Well & Living in Brooklyn. As an archivist/historian, she has worked at the National Center for Jewish Film's Yiddish film series Bridge of Light at New York's Museum of Modern Art, and as Curator of the Film & Photo Department at YIVO Institute. She has lectured internationally on The Celluloid Closet of Yiddish Film (most recently publishing in Queer Jews/Routledge, 2002), and on early Soviet documentary pioneer Esther Shub. An original member of the Lesbian Avenger Marching Band, she has also taught at KlezCamp, Buffalo on the Roof, and Mame-Loshn, and led Ana & the Tevkas and Rhythm Method. She received her B.A. in Russian History & Literature from Harvard-Radcliffe.
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Metropolitan Klezmer, founded in 1994, is the collaborative adventure of eight exceptional New York musicians creating inspired interpretations and original compositions around a panorama of traditionally eclectic Yiddish repertoire. The band was formed by drummer/Yiddish film scholar Eve Sicular with multi-talented world music artists Ismail Butera (accordion) and Michael Hess (violin, ney flutes, kanun zither) plus ubiquitous downtown bass and tuba treasure Dave Hofstra, and originally featured klezmer legend Howie Leess (b. 1920) on clarinet & tenor sax. Since their debut at John Zorn's New Jewish Music Fest, the group has expanded to include vocalist Deborah Karpel and a dynamic horn section: Debra Kreisberg (clarinet/alto sax), Pam Fleming (trumpet/fluegelhorn), and Rick Faulkner (trombone). Collectively, their experiences span genres from Albanian to Zydeco as well as jazz, Latin, classical, funk, ska and many other styles. Individually, Metropolitan Klezmer players have worked with such diverse artists as Bonnie Raitt, The Toasters, Bill Frisell, Toshi Reagon, Juan Carlos Formell, Indigo Girls, Burning Spear, Amy Sedaris, Max Roach, Rufus Wainwright, Nora York, and the Microscopic Septet, as well as Jewish music performers from the Klezmatics and Andy Statman to David Krakauer, Sephardic stars Alhambra and SF's Charming Hostess. To quote Seth Rogovoy (The Essential Klezmer), Metropolitan Klezmer is "distinguished by just plain great, versatile ensemble playing... exuberant spirit and wit."
The band's CDs have enjoyed excellent reviews, awards, and worldwide
airplay. Their vibrant array of songs includes rollicking wedding dances, soulful folk tunes, modal slapstick, revved-up odd meter Hanuka fare, postwar Yiddish poetry, irresistible Turkish- and Arabic-tinged klezmer traditionals,
Hungarian Jewish prayer melody, labor protest hymn, Second Avenue swing classics, vintage Yiddish film soundtrack tangos, love ballads, and originals. Their 2003 release SURPRISING FINDS includes haunting original composition as well as jump swing injected into a tailor's chant, intricate and dynamic versions of 19th-c. underworld tunes, adaptations from 1920s Soviet Moscow Yiddish theater, a Balkan styling of Fagin's "Pick a Pocket" from Oliver!, and archival cameo gems from klezmer legend Howie Leess, Yiddish stage/acreen star Maurice Schwartz, and, as recorded on reel-to-reel, Phillip Karpel (grandfather of vocalist Deborah Karpel, excerpted from beautiful 1960s home audio) MetroKlezmer's MOSAIC PERSUASION (2001) joint project with the all-female Isle of Klezbos sextet, is an OutMusic Award winner featuring "fantastic players... excellent vocals... strength and diversity" (- Roots World). The Forward acclaimed its "terrific... snazzy mixture of upbeat Eastern European dance tunes, Middle Eastern-influenced improvisations, and luscious Yiddish theater tunes delivered by vocalist Deborah Karpel with just enough of an edge." Jewish Week's George Robinson noted "wildly variegated flavors... a tighter, more unified sound than ever... Five stars [highest rating].... one of the best traditional klezmer bands around.... [They] can handle any tempo and a wide range of moods with equal mastery." Germany's Virtual Klezmer says, "Extraordinary. In every regard... Simply one of the most outstanding recordings of Jewish music." Their debut disc, YIDDISH FOR TRAVELERS (Rhythm Media Records, 1998), was cited by The Village Voice's Richard Gehr for "excellent klezmer... impeccably arranged yet electrifying renditions." Folk Roots (U.K.) found "subtle but ear-catching arrangements... fire, substance, and rhythm," while CMJ called it "easily one of the most significant klezmer discs in some time."
In addition to shows at The Knitting Factory, The 92nd Street Y, The
Bottom Line, Joe's Pub at the Public Theater, the World Financial Center's Winter Garden, Fez, The Emelin Theatre, Brooklyn
Center for the Performing Arts, Easthampton Guild Hall, Tonic, Makor,
Jewsapalooza, Club Helsinki, The Jewish Museum/Museum Mile, The Museum for Jewish Heritage, Usdan Center, Trinity Concerts, and Caramoor Center, Metropolitan Klezmer has performed on CNN's Worldbeat, WFUV's CityFolk Live, WVBR's Bound For Glory, and WFMU 'sTransPacific Sound Paradise, as well as ARD German TV's Rhythms of New York. Their music airs on PRI's Sound & Spirit, CBC's Roots & Wings, WDR German radio's Mondo Cannibale, Polish Radio Lublin, Australia's Hot Club, Argentina's Radio Jai, the film soundtrack of Surviving Memory, and over 200 radio stations throughout North America, Europe, and Australia. Band recordings are distributed worldwide by Stern's Music Ltd.
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